Does that cow look like it's smiling?
(If you read yesterday, you know that I’m including animals in my posts now or something broken, because of the broken turtle and the broken seagull)
The cow accident story starts like this…
We (my Wife and I) decided we would host a Neighborhood Bible Club at our house one week in a summer long, long ago. It was really my Wife, more than me because I was working and not going to be there. Our church sponsored the event and there were several homes that were going to be used as hosts.
To host this was fine, but you can’t have a program without children actually coming to your house for a couple of hours each day for the week. My Wife began to go around our neighborhood to invite children. At he time, we lived in a very spread out country area of our city, so she had to drive from place to place, passing some farms, etc.
As she was driving down the road, she got hit by a cow. I said that right - the cow hit her. It was a drive-by-cowing. The cow jumped out of a thicket and hit our car in the front side quarter panel. It gave my Wife whiplash and it totaled our car. It actually bent the frame and caused our car to be written off by the insurance company.
I think the cow ran away with a snicker, like a teenage boy that just played a trick on someone.
I wonder…
Was this a dare from other cows in the field?
How did the cow get out? Did it jump the fence? Gnaw a hole?
How long was it waiting there for the sneak attack?
Was this some sort of cow-gang initiation process?
Was there another cow waiting to steal my Wife’s purse?
Did the cow have insurance?
Would the cow try to sue us for hit and run?
Should we sue the cow for hit and run?
I came home form work and went to the neighbors house to tell them what happened. I explained the story and the husband indicated that he didn’t know how the cow got out of the fence. Just as he finished saying that, his son, of about 6 or 7 years old came up and said “Yes you do, Dad. You remember, you left the gate open!” The dad just looked at me with a stunned look and sent his son away - bet that boy was in trouble and grounded until 18.
We ended up having to get a new car - that wasn’t a bad thing, except for the cost and my Wife’s neck - she ended up fine though.
We had our Bible club and it went great, but I never figured out why the cow did that or why the Lord allowed it to occur, or if the cow or the son got punished. (How do you punish a bad cow? Give it straw instead of hay?)
I’m just glad that God knows exactly what He’s doing and His timing is perfect.
Maybe He was protecting us from a larger accident down the road.
Maybe He was protecting us from something faulty in our car that could have been worse.
Maybe he was allowing us to meet our neighbors that we didn’t know?
Maybe we saved the cow from a worse accident with someone else or someone that was walking?
Lessons Learned: I don’t have to know all the reasons that God allows things in our lives. I just have to trust Him.
Thoughts: Have you ever wondered why, before? Have you ever had an accident with a ferocious wild animal?
Great post, Craig. I hope I can remember to look for the positives in all events while trusting in God. I've never had an accident with a ferocious wild animal, but I did once own a Ford Falcon!
ReplyDeleteGood comment - those falcons can be very dangerous too...
ReplyDeleteI had a teenage neighbor that worked for probably a year and a half to build a Porsche. He bought all the parts with money he earned himself. He spent evening after evening working on it in his garage. Finally, it was ready to go.
ReplyDeleteHis dad wanted to drive it first to make sure that it was safe, checking the brakes and such. His dad got hit by a deer. Just like your wife - the deer hit him.
It totalled the car. True story.
That's a tremendously more sad story than the cow - I can't imagine...ours wasn't a Porsche...it was a chevy...
ReplyDelete